This micrograph reveals the morphology of a Taenia solium tapeworm scolex with its four suckers and two rows of hooks. In the human intestine, the cysticercus develops into an adult tapeworm, which can survive for years in the small intestine. Tapeworms feed on the digestive juices and half-digested food of their hosts. They have no digestive system themselves, but absorb fluids directly through the entire surface of their skin. The scolex grows a chain-like body (strobila) up to 60 centimeters long, which consists of egg-carrying units (proglottides, lower frame) which break off and pass out of the host to be consumed by a new victim.